The Ultimate Reward

The promises given by G-d to the Patriarch Avraham regarding Eretz Yisrael were given in stages.

In his commentary on Torah, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (RAMbaN) spells out four different stages, each one expanding on the previous one as Avraham's merits increased.

At the conclusion of the tenth of his trials, when he demonstrated his love of G-d in his preparedness to sacrifice his son, Avraham was told that not only would his progeny be as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sand on the shore but that his descendants would "inherit the gate of their enemy".

This was the ultimate reward — a guarantee that no matter how much the descendants of Avraham would suffer at the hands of their enemies they would inevitably overcome all of them.

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